Editorial: People riding bikes must follow rules of the road too

A lot of people are ditching the car as a mode of transportation and instead are hopping on bikes and using ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft to get around.

That will go a long way toward helping to ease congestion on roads and also lower pollution levels. In the case of bikes, it also presents an opportunity to get in a little exercise to boot. May is New Haven Bike Month, set aside here to celebrate the biking culture and make citizens feel excited and empowered to ride bikes as a green and healthful form of transportation.

But some adult cyclists are not following the rules of the road.

Just ask Sidney Harris, an 80-year-old New Havener who was walking on the sidewalk on Chapel Street between Church and Orange streets when he was hit by a cyclist. Harris was knocked out briefly and spent three days in the hospital following the accident.

That should never have happened. Local ordinances allow children 12 and younger to ride on sidewalks but it is illegal for adult cyclists, according to city Transportation, Traffic & Parking Director Doug Hausladen. However, Harris says the cyclist has faced no charges.

Hausladen said much of the problem is a lack of infrastructure to help cyclists not only cycle in designated areas but in places where they feel safe to ride. But sidewalks are not the place to ride bikes regardless of the lack of infrastructure.

With the city constructing bike lanes and a two-way cycle track on Edgewood Avenue in the planning stage, this is a good time for a reminder and Hausladen thinks he has found the right message.

The city is in the process of creating signage to educate the public about the ordinances. With assistance from the Yale Traffic Safety Subcommittee, the new program, inspired by signs Hausladen saw in Princeton, New Jersey, is under development. The running theme will be a slogan along the lines of “sidewalk not sidebike,” encouraging cyclists to remain on the road and off the sidewalk.

That percentage will only rise as commuters seek ways to circumvent the state’s woefully inadequate public transportation system and get out of time-consuming congestion on highways.

So, safety is key and so is obeying the rules of the road. The city has installed many bright, green-painted bicycle lanes in the center of downtown, which is always busy with traffic and people milling around.

The city must be aggressive in getting the message out to cyclists — and also enforcing the laws in place to protect people like Harris walking on sidewalks.